The HuMUS project is suporting collective spaces of constructive dialogue on soil health with participatory governance methods and tools.

Open to public autorities in collaboration with farmers, entreprenueurs, SMEs, consumer associations, NGOs., soil experts, researchers and academics, government and public officials, and the general public of the pilot location, including maginalised people and vunerable groups.

The overarching aim of the HuMUS project is to facilitate the deployment of the EU Soil Mission at regional and local levels in Europe. It will do so by creating collective spaces of constructive dialogue on soil health and soil quality threats, both inside and outside the consortium, which should adopt participatory governance methods and tools for soil quality and health governance in the territories involved. 

From inside the consortium, we expect the signature of 13 Territorial Management Agreements among relevant and engaged Quadruple Helix stakeholders of each HuMUS partner community.

The target of this Call for proposals is to identify and support another 20 Pilot Projects, involving a total number of at least 300 Quadruple Helix stakeholders. The latter may consist of, for example, farmers and other entrepreneurs, including SMEs, consumer associations and other NGOs, professional soil experts, researchers and academics, government managers and public officials, as well as the general public of the Pilot location, notably including marginalised people and vulnerable groups. 

This critical mass of 33 Pilot Projects is expected to provide substantial evidence that participatory governance methods and tools can promote, procure, and stimulate an increased and more diffused awareness of existing soil health issues and threats at local and regional levels and more effective approaches to their resolution.

Before the end of their lifetime, the 20 Winners of this Call are expected to deliver:

1. The copy of a signed Territorial Management Agreement by all relevant Quadruple Helix stakeholders of the chosen Pilot Location;
2. Evidence of successful adoption of the HuMUS Methodology, as described in Annex G to this Call, or of another equivalent approach to instantiate the concept of participatory governance of soil health issues and threats at local or regional levels, gathered in the form of a Short final report;   
3. An analysis of replication potential of the Pilot Project and approach, including details of the specific methodology adopted and highlighting the main barriers, drivers, enablers, and conditions for constructive dialogue and participatory governance of soil health issues and threats to materialise at the regional or local levels in Europe.

Only the Territorial Management Agreement and an executive summary of the Short final report will be published on the HuMUS website, while the other contents will be kept confidential and used only for internal purposes by the HUMUS consortium.

The HuMUS Call for Pilot proposals has a total budget of €600.000,00 and expires on  29.02.2024 at 5 pm CET (Brussels time)

The maximum subgrant per Pilot Project is € 30.000,00 (lump sum).

In addition to funding, the Call Winners will receive technical support from selected members of the HuMUS consortium, as described in §7 below. This may involve their optional participation in a Soil Stewards training programme, which will include an in-depth presentation of the HuMUS methodology. In return for the support, Winners will participate in the HuMUS consortium’s formative and summative evaluation activities, as explained in §13 of the Call.

The HuMUS electronic submission system – made available at the ANCI Toscana / Goodgrants^TM platform, see https://anci-toscana.grantplatform.com/ – is the only valid means for submitting applications under the provisions of this Call (for submission instructions, see §15 of the Call). 

Call document

More information, templates and guidance for submission is on link.

Source: HuMUS